Andrew and Barbara couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

Not just them, but other high-ranking members of the commerce association in the conference hall, such as Old Medic and Jonathan, were also looking at Dean Charlie in shock.

The first people to receive the latest frontline intelligence were actually Madam Yi Lian and Dean Charlie, as the senior leaders.

After Madam Yi Lian called everyone for a meeting, she insisted that Charlie wait until both Andrew and Barbara arrived before introducing the latest situation on the frontline.

Therefore, the other high-ranking members of the commerce association didn't know what the latest developments were on the frontline.

"You... what did you say? Peter, him, one against two, captured that freakishly strong Holigar alive?!" Old Medic was somewhat stammering.

Jonathan, Susan, and others also had faces full of shock.

Andrew hadn't witnessed Holigar's strength firsthand.

Most of the high-ranking members present had witnessed it, and some had even tried their luck during the previous Twin Fires War.

That person was not only powerful but also freakish.

Whether it was his mastery of magic or his persona, it belonged to that chilling kind of person that instinctively made one's skin crawl.

It's said that Holigar could have already broken through to beyond Tier Nine and become an Earth Fire Scholar long ago.

But due to the dilemma of whether to retain his existing "Necromancy Purple Fire" or accept the "Molten Rock Fire" that all Earth Fire Scholars would obtain upon breakthrough, he had yet to make a decision and thus was deliberately suppressing his tier level and not breaking through.

After all, a person cannot possess two kinds of the Eight Strange Fires, which is considered an iron rule.

Some theories suggest that Holigar is actually researching whether it's possible to possess two Strange Fires at the same time, and once figured out, upon breakthrough, he would become the first Earth Fire Scholar in history to possess two Strange Fires.

In any case, Holigar was indeed a very, very strong and terrifying opponent.

Although the commerce association's senior members were also full of confidence in Peter, knowing that Peter wasn't just there for show, a one-on-one would be evenly matched, but one against two and capturing alive, this... this was way too impressive!

Andrew and Barbara felt similar at this moment.

How formidable Holigar was, Andrew hadn't seen firsthand, but he had faced that Female Assassin and at least had a concept of the strength of such a level of experts. The strongest Shield Knight Jimmy and the supposedly invincible in one-on-one duels Grandpa Falk, seemed like children facing adults against that Female Assassin; they were simply not opponents.

And Peter faced the equivalent of two Female Assassins and then captured one alive?

Although Peter himself was severely injured, he wasn't dead wasn't he! He also led the team safely out of the "Dragon's Nest" and retreated to the "Crimson Battle Lance"!

At that moment, there was only one thought in Andrew's mind: "Peter is mighty!!"

Old Medic's expression suddenly changed, looking out the window.

In the distance, where the lake met the horizon, a Magic Airship quietly arrived, on standby.

Peter had already done his best. Now, leading his team back to the "Crimson Battle Lance," what he needed most was treatment. As the chief person in charge of the Warm Fire Temple, Old Medic had cultivated the "Fire God Blessing Series" to Tier Eight, naturally making him the best candidate.

Old Medic didn't waste time, gave Madam Yi Lian a bow, nodded to Dean Charlie, turned around, and was about to set off.

"Wait a moment!"

Andrew hurriedly stepped forward and handed over a newly strengthened Snickers, crafted just after he broke through to Tier Four.

Due to time constraints, this Snickers was evidently not the most perfect that a Tier Four could currently achieve.

But compared to a Tier Three Snickers, it was already a step further.

Old Medic was momentarily surprised that Andrew had broken through to Tier Four, as such events were too rare among the younger generation. He said, "No need, I have some of the Snickers you made." But he still accepted it, thinking that although this kid hadn't seen Peter, he seemed genuine at heart.

Andrew softly added, "This is the latest version, don't mix it up."

Old Medic paused, nodded, and quickly turned to rise into the air, heading straight for the Magic Airship. As a Tier Eight powerhouse, he naturally could fly. However, for long-distance travel to the frontline "Crimson Battle Lance," he still needed the Magic Airship for transportation.

Madam Yi Lian, who hadn't spoken all this while, gently waved her hand at this moment, presenting a gigantic holographic frontline map, and said, "The Dragon's Nest has now fallen into... that Female Assassin's hands. However, when Peter withdrew from the Dragon's Nest, he destroyed everything that could be destroyed. Although the opponents reclaimed the Dragon's Nest, to restore that Super Fortress's former glory would take at least three to five years. Our retreat had considerable casualties. But after everyone returned to the Crimson Battle Lance, there's no need to worry about safety."

Just by listening, Andrew could feel the suffocating pressure of the battlefield. It seemed that he could personally experience the thrilling intensity of the frontline battle situation.

He couldn't help but ask softly, "So, did we win or lose?"

That was also the question Barbara and many senior members of the commerce association wanted to ask.

"It's... a draw, I suppose."

Beside, Dean Charlie pursed his lips, "We didn't win, but we didn't lose either. It's said if we could really occupy the two major fortresses on the frontline for a long time, it would definitely be a win. But actually, the president had long determined that our forces were insufficient for a long-term occupation of the Dragon's Nest. Recently, the posture of fighting a protracted war, a war of attrition, was more bluff than anything else."

"A draw huh..." Jonathan, Susan, and others exchanged glances, feeling quite complicated.

Of course, there is joy and excitement: "At the outbreak of the Twin Fires War, with such a passive situation, we still managed to draw it back in the end!"

At the same time, there was a solemn and wary atmosphere: "Over at the Magic Guild, after the collective rebellion of the Flame Warriors, they were almost as passive as we were at the outbreak of war, but now they have evened the playing field!"

Many of the higher-ups couldn't help but glance several times at Andrew, who was present.

It was Andrew who had exorcised a large number of Desolate Beasts and transmitted the news from the Inner Sea Desert through Barbara to the Commerce Association, which turned around a situation that was initially extremely disadvantageous for the Commerce Association.

But now, with the mysterious unknown female assassin emerging suddenly, the issue of the Flame Warriors' collective rebellion no longer seemed to be a significant, unsolvable problem for the Magic Guild.

Previously, when Andrew and Barbara discussed the female assassin, they highly suspected that she might have practiced a higher-tier 'Dragon Transformation Combat Technique', which enabled her to possess both the formidable strength of the Flame Warriors and the terrifying speed of the Crimson Knights.

It could be said that this completely compensated for the occupational weaknesses of the Flame Warriors.

Andrew even suspected that the other party, as a warrior, had integrated one of the Eight Strange Fires, otherwise, it would be difficult to explain such perfect, weakness-free, monster-level combat power.

In any case, the existence of that female assassin was, in fact, a shot in the arm for all the Flame Warriors.

The conveyed message was: The issue of Flame Warriors practicing the "Dragon Transformation Combat Technique", possibly leading to loss of control and becoming Desolate Beasts, was no longer a problem. The female assassin, as a "perfect Flame Warrior" surpassing all predecessors, was the best proof.

"Judging from the situation on the front line, a large number of Flame Warriors have reappeared in the ranks of the Magic Guild." More than one of the high-ups at the Commerce Association thought to themselves, "It seems unrealistic to expect the Magic Guild's internal chaos to cause complete collapse.

To truly defeat the Magic Guild, one must rely on hard power to truly surpass!"

Andrew, however, was not too concerned about whether the Flame Warriors as a group would once again support the Magic Guild. In other words, Andrew never thought from the beginning that he could really persuade the Flame Warriors to completely rebel against the Magic Guild and turn to the Warm Fire Commerce Association. To Andrew, this was simply impossible.

"Since the final exchange on the front line resulted in a draw with the Magic Guild, then..."

Andrew pursued the question, "...what's next?"

Barbara's heart was stirred, and she looked at her mother.

Aside from Medicine Elder, the other higher-ups also looked toward Director Charlie and Mrs. Yi Lian.

They thought to themselves that the lady, who had not shown up to manage affairs for ten weeks, obviously did not convene this meeting just to report on the latest situation at the front line, right?

It should be known that with the results of the front line arriving at a phased outcome, the Double Fire War was not only nominally over but should also be genuinely concluded in a practical sense.

Sure enough, only to hear Mrs. Yi Lian speaking gently: "The front line is temporarily not going to engage in any more conflict. The Double Fire War, in both name and practical terms, is considered temporarily over.

The next stage will focus on peace talks. We will negotiate with the Magic Guild.

The location will be... at the Royal Court."

Andrew had vaguely premonitions about this. Upon hearing this, his eyes narrowed slightly: "Peace talks... at the Royal Court, huh..."

From his perspective, the conclusion of the Dual Fire War was certainly a good thing.

In fact, it had nominally ended a while ago.

Subsequently, the fierce entanglement between both sides around the Dragon's Nest on the front line was more about securing more chips before the real negotiations could begin.

"For me, the situation right now is probably the best outcome." Andrew mused silently, "After all, I still need time to accumulate power. Directly breaking out into a battle where both sides are completely without retreat would be the worst-case scenario for me."

The certainty is that the second Double Fire War will happen sooner or later; it's just a matter of time.

The key is what to do before the next major battle breaks out.

"First and foremost, using the 'Elemental Solidification' I recently unlocked, setting up the Magic Production Line to liberate productivity while freeing myself, this is definitely something to be done."

Andrew thought to himself, "As for the delayed progress on the project to install a Magic Firewall on the 'Heart Net', if the Warm Fire Commerce Association is truly apprehensive and temporarily unwilling to let me access the 'Heart Net', it doesn't matter. After all, those existing collaborative projects, once I establish the Magic Production Line, will already be able to provide me with fire-extinguishing values that increase by at least tenfold, or even dozens of times!"

Currently, what Andrew is truly uncertain about is—

This upcoming negotiation between the Warm Fire Commerce Association and the Magic Guild at the Royal Court, should he participate?

If considering purely from a personal standpoint, Andrew certainly wants to participate.

Although development is important, you can't always practice in isolation and completely avoid confrontation with the enemy, can you?

You can't always think about fully developing before going into battle!

So when hearing that the two sides were going to start negotiations at the Royal Court, Andrew's first reaction was to voluntarily offer to participate. Of course, this would be after he dealt with the Magic Production Line.

"It's just that, seeing this setup, it seems that the Warm Fire Commerce Association doesn't plan on bringing me along..."

Andrew observed the situation and felt that this meeting was more about keeping him informed, acknowledging that he was, in a certain sense, considered one of the upper echelons of the Commerce Association, needing to stay updated with the latest developments.

But that was just it.

There was no intention of inviting him to participate in the negotiations.

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